About This Blog

In the 2005 referendum, British Columbians voted 58 percent in favour of BC-STV. New referendum legislation required 60 percent. Volunteers who support the YES for BC-STV campaign are working hard to get the second referendum, to be held May 12th, passed. This blog is designed as a source for Mid-Island volunteers, supporters and interested members of the public.

Mid-Island BC-STV Events

REFERENDUM DAY. May 12. (Oh, and there's an election today too.)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

First, I have to say this.......I ache for all the Citizens' Assembly folks who believe passionately in the BC-STV.Bruce Halsor made excellent comments on the CBC Vancouver Island radio show this morning. He commended the 7000 BC-STV volunteers around the province. We all ran a positive campaign and we KNOW when we could speak face to face that the voters understood and were supportive.I am not a political analyst so will not presume to understand what happened. I do know that there are 44% of voters in the Cowichan Valley who really "get it" and, as has been our motto, they are willing to "do politics differently".

We connected with amazing people.

With gratitude to all of you who showed your support by putting up a sign, handing out pamphlets, participating in "waving Wednesdays" and believing in electoral reform.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

UPDATE: Last night, I sent the link to this video to ALL my contacts on Gmail. Didn't bother with filtering, so it would have gone to Staples, the Upton Tea Co in the US, etc. etc. Just got this response from someone I've not been in touch with in years: "Hello Ocean. Thank-you for sending this my way. I have listened to it and am passing it onto family."

Makes it worth my likely being removed from some people's contact list.

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If you haven't seen this video yet and you're still unconvinced that this province needs the democratic reform which BC-STV would start, then watch it now. It's of former Deputy Premier Christy Clark speaking on CKNW last week. She openly confesses why she voted against BC-STV in 2005: her personal interests as a politician were best served by first-past-the-post.

CTV last night reported that the tide is turning in favour of the reform, with online polls showing over 60 percent support of BC-STV. We CAN win this. Let's do it.

Please distribute the video, or forward a link to this post, to everybody you know, regardless of whether they live in BC - their friends may know people in BC... This really IS a small world.

Friday, May 8, 2009

It's of former Deputy Premier Christy Clark speaking on CKNW yesterday. She says that the referendum on electoral reform is the most important vote British Columbians will cast and she is open about why she voted against BC-STV in the last referendum: for reasons of personal interest as a politician who benefited from FPTP.

Please distribute the video, or forward a link to this post, to everybody you know.

Apr 19, Victoria Times Colonist. STV Pro: Ensuring real representation. "STV is not European-style proportional representation. Votes are for candidates not parties. The relatively few seats per riding weed out splinter parties, and the preferential ballot weeds out extremists. Winning candidates need broad-based community support."

Apr 17, Victoria T-C. Vote Offers Choice: Are we sheep or not? "British Columbians have a chance to say yes to a single-transferable-vote system that will be more representative and encourage MLAs to pay attention their constituents, not the party."

Apr 15, Kelowna Capital News. STV advocated by ex-cabinet minister. "In Victoria you’re told how to vote by the premier’s office. At the local council level, you have genuine debate because you actually hope somebody will change their mind. In Victoria, all minds are made up before the debate begins and it’s wrong.”